Acid resisting alloy



Patented July 4, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM J. BRADDOCK, OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA ACID RESIS'IING ALLOY 'N'o Drawing. Application filed February 20, 1933. Serial No. 657,680.

This invention relates to an acid-resistant impossible to obtain a highl ductile, piercecopper alloy. able, and weldable alloy i the proportion I am aware that several alloys have prerange given be departed from to the extent viously been made consisting of copper, of one per cent. more or less for any innickel, and aluminum, without the inclusion gredient. That is, the formula must be folof other metals in substantial proportions. lowed within a tolerance of less than one per One such disclosure of a copper, nickel, cent. aluminum alloy is that contained in the It is further a fact that within the range patent to Ityro Iytaka, No. 1,496,269. I have, of three to five per cent. prescribed for both 31) however, found the disclosure of that patent the aluminum and n ckel, these alloying Worthless for the purpose of obtaining a metals must be present in substantially equal highly acid-resistant copper alloy, which qu ant1t1e s,a very narrow tolerance being permay be rolled without checking at the normal mlssible 1n the relative variation of their prorolling temperature, and may be straightportlons. Thus if alum num be included in ened, after rolling, without breakage. This the alloy in a proportlon of substantially is for the reason that the disclosed range of 0 per cent. of the Whole, nickel must also the Iytaka patent as to each ingredient of be Included in a proportion of substantially the alloy is so wide that it fails to convey 0 11 per Cent-of the whole, glvlng a copper f l i f ti content of ninety-two per cent. of the whole.

I am also aware of a certain British patent I have found that the tolerance as to equality to John Frederick Duke, No. 12,042, of 1908. between the aluminum and the nickel must be In this patent there are disclosed three apless than one-half of one per cent. of the total parently useful formulae for making up copcomposltion, and for best results should be no per, aluminum, and nickel alloys. By test greater than one-fourth of one per cent. Any

33 I have found that the alloys disclosed in the er y greater-than 0.5 per cent. in the Duke patent have an acid resistance greater relatlvel quantity of nlckel and aluminum than that of pure copper; that they may be results 111 a marked decrease from the exrolled and straightened; but that the alloys ptionally hlgh workability of the alloy, and

, do not have a'sufficiently high tensile strength p l al y 11 SeS a loss of the welding and for various purposes; and that they may not P g pab1l1t1eS- be, in commercial practice, drawn, Welded, I 0011S1de1 my Pt ml1m formula to be as or pierced, and do not have a remarkably W Z high resistance to corrosion by commercial 5535 25,, M acids. Copper 92 The object of my invention is to provide a Aluminum 4 copper alloy possessing high acid resistance Nickel 4 and high tensile strength, which may not only be rolled and straightened according to normal commercial practice, but may also be satisfactorily drawn, welded, and pierced according to normal commercial practice.

My alloy comprises in proportions by With this specific formula, also, the equality between the nickel and the aluminum must be maintained within the tolerances given above.

I have found by repeated tests that an increase in corrosion resistance of approxi- Welght' Per cent mately twenty per cent. is obtained over a c5 of the whole workable copper-aluminum bronze in which PPQ 90 to 94 aluminum is incorporated with the copper Alumlnum to 5 in a proportion of ten per cent. or less of the Nlckel 3 to 5 whole, The percentage increase of corrosion It should be noted that the ranges are relaresistance as compared with unalloyed coptively narrow, and I have, in fact, found it per is much greater than twenty per cent.

The yield point of my alloy is approximately fifty thousand pounds per square inch.

in the alloy must be of high commercial purity, as substantial inclusion of iron, or other impurities, in the copper detracts greatly from the value of the alloy as to substantially all its desirable characteristics.

The peculiar qualities of my bronze render it useful for various purposes, and in fact for any purpose in which a highly acidresistant bronze must be worked into a particular shape for use. As examples of such use there may be noted tubes, rivets, rods, turnbuckles, bolts, nuts, cotters, and the like, which are subjected to the action of dilute commercial acids, such as sulphuric, hydrochloric, and acetic acids.

My alloy is entering use in the petroleum industry, for the reason that sour oil is encountered in various localities, and has an active tendency to corrode metal equipment with which it comes in contact. In a refinery handling sour oil my alloy, because of its resistance to corrosion, is advantageously used for all the tubing which is in contact with the oil, and also for rolled sheets and for screening wire. Its accompanying, and peculiar, workability permits it to be readily made up into such manufactured equipment.

It is also advantageously used for the pipe line transportation of petroleum, and in the production of petroleum. In the latter connection, well screens, well casings, pump rods, and polish rods made of my alloy are able to resist corrosive action of the petroleum.

It should be understood that in commercial practice it has not been possible previ ously to work an alloy of higher corrosion resistance into such various useful forms. By the alloys of higher corrosion resistance I mean that class of copper alloys, or bronzes, having a corrosion resistance notably higher than that of pure, or substantially pure, copper. The zinc alloys of copper, while more workable than the aluminum subject to electrolytic action, a quality which,

so far as I am informed, has not been previously obtained in an alloy having the property of facile commercial workability. It is thus generally useful for tubing, and other elements to be embedded underground, particularly in regions of active soil acidity, or in cinder beds. i

As to the substantial equality of aluminum and nickel, it is possible that there are in ex istence metals of such equivalency to either of these alloying metals, that they may be used to partially replace either of them in maintaining the relative equality of aluminum and nickel, Without rendering the alloy subject to electrolytic action, or otherwise detracting from its valuable properties.

I claim as my invention:

1. A drawable and weldable corrosion-resisting alloy consisting in substantial entirety of copper, aluminum, and nickel, the metals being included in the relative proportions by weight of ninety per cent. to ninety-four per cent. copper, three per cent. to five per cent. aluminum, and three per cent. to five per cent. nickel, the proportions of nickel and aluminum included in the alloy being substantially equal.

2. A drawable and weldable corrosion-resisting alloy consisting in substantial entirety of copper, aluminum, and nickel, the metals being included in the approximate relative proportions by weight of ninety-two per cent. copper, four per cent aluminum, and four per cent. nickel, the equality in the included proportions of aluminum and nickel being maintained Within a tolerance of less than one-half of one per cent. of the whole.

3. A drawable and weldable corrosion-resisting alloy consisting in substantial entirely of copper, aluminum, and nickel, the copper being included in a proportion by weight of ninety per cent. to ninety-four per cent. of

the whole within a tolerance of less than one per cent., and the aluminum and nickel being included in approximate equality by weight, the equality 1n the included proportions of aluminum and nickel being maintained with- 

